Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!! We sure did!! :) Boys got everything they needed...and wanted! Andy & I did as well. :)

Mason started rice cereal this past Sunday to celebrate his 6 month birthday haha! He loved it! Still loves it almost a week later. Thursday he started rolling both ways as well. Doing much better sitting up on his own too!! Just in time for their milestone pics at the picture studio tomorrow. :) He is still not sleeping through the night when I am home. Doesn't bother me...he will when he's ready. When I am at work he makes a little noise around 5-6am and Andy offers him his pacifier and tells me he falls right back to sleep til 7-7:30.

Austin loves his new train track we got him and his new World of Words Baby Einstein dvd that my parents got him. Those are the 2 current favs right now but he does enjoy all of his new toys. :) Called First Steps because they still hadn't called me to set up an evaluation time...our "service coordinator" is out of the office til January 2nd. So hopefully we will hear something mid week next week. Anxious to get his speech therapy started. He's already attempting to say more words each week so hopefully this will be a good boost to his vocabulary! Read, read, read to your little ones! Thought we were reading enough but now I have the "mom guilt."

Our family pictures arrived in the mail today but I didnt get a chance to open and look at them before I had to head back into work. Excited to see how they look!!

Busy week!

Monday: Austin had his 2 year appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 80th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height! 95th for head circumference...big noggin'! She was happy with everything growth wise. She is concerned about his speech...as are we. He should have 50 or so recognizable words (words only we can understand don't count). I would say he has about 20-25 words. She referred us to First Steps and they will see him weekly for the next few months. They have yet to call me back to set up an evaluation time ...but his Pedi said with the holiday it could take some time. He is very smart and she could see that. :) Expressive speech delay is our diagnosis. She said this will help with temper/frustration from him not always having the words to tell us whats wrong. His birthday dinner at Andy's parents Monday night went well. Got some cute toys & pjs.

Wednesday: Mason had his 6 month appointment. Stats are to the right. He was in the 40th percentile for weight and 50th for height. 25th for head circumference...which is about where he has been. Steady growth! :) She was happy with his head and body control. Said we could very slowly start cereal and then other solids. I'm not going to rush him because his tummy is already sensitive enough!! He tolerated his vaccines great and was fairly sleepy the rest of the day and a good chunk of yesterday.

Thursday: Met with the home selections coordinator to start picking out stuff for the house! We decided on: siding color, gutter/trim color, shutter & front door color, carpet, foyer wood choice, kitchen/bathroom flooring, fixtures/drawer pulls for kitched, counters, & cabinets. Sounds like a lot but most of it was kinda easy. Guess Andy & I just agree haha! We are going to go look at a house that has the same siding color that we picked so we can see the brick that the homeowners picked to see if we like it or if we want to pick a different color. Every house in the addition we picked has to have so many square feet of brick or stone on the front. So whats left to pick? ....lots! We go back in early January to hopefully finish our selections. Then later in January or maybe Feb we will go pick out appliances and lighting.

Our house has quite a bit of little things to get done before we can put it up for sale. Looking forward to sprucing it up ...not looking forward to figuring out how to arrange all the toys so that it doesnt look like Toys R Us in our living room! Might have to get a storage unit for a month or two!

We had Austin's birthday party for my side of the family (his mom wants to have her own little dinner Monday) last Saturday and it went well. Curious George theme was a hit and he still loves having the big balloon in the living room. :) He got some cute toys from my parents and grandparents. Didn't really like his cake again this year...maybe when he gets older haha! He did touch the icing though haha. :)

He was stuffy for his party and it progressed to major coughing and raspy voice on Sunday. He then was up in the middle of the night on Sunday night with the "barking seal cough". :( :( So we went in Monday morning to see the Pediatrician & he was diagnosed with croup. She said Mason just has a cold. Austin got oral steriods for 3 days. We have also been running a humidifier in his room for naps and bedtime since Monday night & it seems to help him fall asleep faster...maybe because its so loud! He seems to be completely better now.

Mason still has cold symptoms ...thankfully no crazy coughing like his big brother! Hopefully he is well soon!

Lots to talk about coming up this week.... Austins second birthday(!!) tomorrow, his two year appt Monday, Mason's 6mt appt Wednesday, & part one of house selections (siding color, cabinet color, drawer knobs, etc) Thursday. :) Glad I had enough PTO to take a day off this past week for Austins sickness and a day off this coming week since we are busy at home. :)


Only have about half (or less) of my Christmas shopping done. Yikes! Our tree is still not up! :( ...Maybe tomorrow night?!

Mason had his follow up GI appt (from his blood in stool fiasco last month). Everything looks great according to the doctor! He was 17lbs with no clothes and a dry diaper...(I believe this weight more than the one at the peds urology office since he had clothes & diaper on for that one.) He said we can start rice cereal at six months if his Pedi agrees as well. He recommended I make my own solids to eliminate cross contamination or use Beech-Nut brand since they are more strict with how they make their baby food versus Gerber, etc. I am nervous to start this whole food process!! He's finally in a happy place and I don't want to upset his tummy again!

We met with the builder to start learning more information on Thursday night. We have settled on a floor plan...we had looked at a home mostly built with the floorplan we liked online. So with this builder and wanting to live on the northwest to east side of Fort Wayne we are somewhat limited on housing additions. We are going to meet with him again on Monday morning and drive through the addition that has some lots that we can pick from if we like the addition. Kinda nervous about all the little things that might pop up with expenses....like for instance....we have to pay for the sidewalk in front of the house. Reasonable? yes. But I didn't think of that haha!

Mason's Pediatric Urology appointment was yesterday afternoon. Went well and we like the Doc from Riley. So nice that Lutheran has these outpatient clinics for different doctors to come in and do consults/follow ups.

We learned that there is nothing structurally wrong with Mason's penis. It is a skin abnormality (to put it in easy to understand terms) that developed very early on in utero. It is not genetic and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. Doctor said it is quite common and Mason has a very mild form of it. He said that there is no surgery needed unless we want him circumcised. Also praised our Pediatrician group....said many Peds would not catch this and would end up taking off too much skin trying to do the circumsion and the baby would have to undergo another surgery to fix it.

If we decide we want it done the earliest he will do it is at 8mts of age. He would be put under, get a spinal block (similar to an epidural) and then have the surgery. He did tell us that right now many baby boys aren't getting circumcised after delivery anymore. Mason would have full function of his anatomy and nothing would be hindered. So we are undecided at the moment on what to do. Luckily we have some time before we have to make a decision.

He is growing like a weed! ..... 17lbs 14oz but that was with his clothes and diaper on so I'm guessing he is more like 17lbs 8oz?